Hello from Ireland! Land of Guinness, tin whisltes and hearty stews! Sorry it's been a while since my last post but we have been devoid of internet (and indeed mobile) service- actually it's been quite nice to be a bit cut off from technology, but now it is time to fill you all in on our travels.
After a lovely few days in Oxford we caught the bus to Stansted airport to catch our Ryanair flight. We had heard mixed reviews from others who had travelled on the low budget airline, but we were happy enough to give them a go, especially as our flights were so ridiculously cheap. And for the most part the journey was uneventful, I set off the metal detector in the aiport and recieved a fair grope from the security lady, which (just quietly) i think she rather enjoyed, I just closed my eyes and thought of England. The flight was super quick, just up and down, it was made to feel a tad longer by the baby sitting directly behind us but what can you do? We were picked up from the airport by our friends Teresa and James- it was SO lovely to see them again. Teresa and I went through primary school together so we go way back, and though James is a reletively recent addition to the mix it feels like we have known him forever. We arrived at 11pm, so there was only time for 3 beers before bed (!)
The next morning we headed into Blarney, which is their village and home to the famous Blarney castle and stone. The castle itself is quite old and run down, though very worth a look, but it's no secret that the true reason people cue up to go in is to see and kiss the stone. Legend has it that if you kiss the stone you will receive the gift of the gab. Legend also has it that locals from the village of Blarney urinate on the stone as a bit of a practicle joke on all the gullible tourists. That aside we still puckered up and had a little smooch with the rock - it tasted like gravel and dirt. Not sure if i have the gift of the gab yet, i guess only time will tell!
After a lunch of guinness and sandwiches (no- seriously that was our lunch) we piled in James' car for a road trip up to Limerick. Along the drive we encountered some of Ireland's famous weather- it rained pretty much non stop for the 3 hour drive. And let me tell you - some of those winding roads get a little hair raising when they are slippery and wet! But we arrived safe and sound in |Limerick by about 6pm. James and Teresa both work for Munster Rugby club and there was a Munster match on against an Italian team that night, and somehow we managed to wangle tickets into our own coperate box! We couldn't believe our luck! It was actuallly quite a boring match, not boring in the sense that nothing happened, but munster won by about 30 points and so it was over by the first few minutes really, but we had such a blast! a few wines later and we were the most enthusiatic fans in the stadium! Though i think perhaps the least knowledgable, I did at one point ask if the spanish team were finding it hard to play in the cold weather only to be informed they were in fact from italy- ooops! a minor detail i feel! after the match we headed into limerick where we had the most amazing kebab in history from abra kebabra- probably the best shop in the world aslo.... though i don't know if the wine helped with this review. we then went to dolens bar, which is aparently famous for its live music- and it didn't disappoint! we had people playing the fiddle and singing- it was great! but after a beer or two we were pretty beet, so it was back to the hotel for a snooze.....
The next morning we packed back into the car and headed to the cliffs of moher- they are trying to get the cliffs included in the greatest wonders of the world ,and i can see why- they were absolutely beautiful. it helped that the sun popped its head out to shine on us but all the same- absolutely breathtaking. I took about 13094 photos of them - i only hope it's enough to convey just how gorgeous they were. after the cliffs we went for a good drive around the region and saw the sights, the area there is full of ruins dating back to 3 thousand years BC- seriously old stuff- it was lovely just to drive about and take in some history. That night we checked into the most lovely B&B - and to top things off it was directly next to the town's 2 pubs!! are you seeing a bit of a theme here with our irish adventures??? Pubs seem to feature quite prominently...hm........ ah well!!!
The next morning we slowly ambled back to to Blarney, stopping off for us to dabble our toes in the Atlantic ocean and take in the sights and sounds of the country side. The Cork international jazz festival was on over the weekend so once back in Blarney we headed out to a bar call the Shelbourne and saw a jazz band called Cat Scratch Fever- by the end of their set we were standing on the couches dancing - it was brilliant! only in ireland! Adam also was able to catch up with a fourth cousin of his called Mark who we managed to track down, we tried our hardest to figure out how it was adam and he were related- one of his great greats was an aunt of one of adam's great great relatives but it all got a bit too hard really! Still - was lovely to meet a local and have a bit of a chat.
And that brings us to yesterday....we were all a bit tired out after our road trip and mutliple trips to the pub we had a lovely quiet sort of day, we drove to a near by fishing village and had a lovely walk around some old cobbled streets, saw a small market and chilled out.....it wouldn't be ireland if we didn't end up in the pub at some stage- but we left after just one hot whiskey (yum!) as i really didn't feel my liver could take too much more.....obviuosly i have a lot to learn from the irish!
And now today we are just having a bit of a wander around cork city- it seems like a lovely sort of town , nice and quiet but at the same time full of life- sounds a bit confusing but so much in ireland is!!! tomorrow we head to the town of gallway before heading to dublin for a touch of international rules! Can't wait!
Hope you all are having a lovely time wherever you are in the world,
much love
Lauren the leprechaun and Adam the aer lingus
xxxxx
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
greetings from the UK!
howdy folks- we made it! after years of talking about it, a year of planning it and many months of getting increasingly excited we are finally here in England at the start of our big trip. oh the word excitement doesn't actually come close to describe what we're feeling! before I get too far into this post I'd just like to apologise in advance for the poor spelling and grammar, I'm actually typing this on a iPhone at 6am whilst hiding under the blankets in bed so I don't wake Adam up- stupid jetlag has us sleepy at conflicting times!!! now that the apologies are out of the way I'll get to recapping the last few days... we actually left Perth on Saturday and flew further away from Europe to the beautiful city of Melbourne for the ACRA awards ceremony. Adam was nominated for best newcomer on air- a huge accomplishment as there are only 4 finalists from all the on air radio personel Australia wide. alas Saturday night was not Adams night to take home the award but we had a great time walking down the red carpet behind hamish and andy, rubbing shoulders with several celebs and being wined and dined- fab!!! we woke up slowly and gently on Sunday and spent the day killing time wandering the streets of Melbourne (not in a seedy way though). after a lovely dinner prepared by the fantastic tors we headed to the airport for our flight. there's not too much one can say to describe a 14 hour flight, at the start we were delayed because a fellow passenger fell ill and had to be taken off in an ambulance, but once we got going it was pretty smooth sailing (or flying). we managed a fair bit of sleep and kept ourselves amused with the movies and games. Dubai came and went without much of a fuss and then it was on the airbus a380 for another 7 hours to heathrow. one bit of excitent on landing was the captain made us all stay seated once on the tarmac because 2 policen had to board and arrest another passenger! such excitement! seems we were on a flight of invalids and criminals!!! after breezing through customs we hopped on a bus bound for headington, oxford where we walked to my grandads house where my aunt Caroline was Also waiting for us. it was SO lovely to see them both again, it's been almost 4 years since we last caught up!! due to my tired levels I can't for the life of me recount with any accuracy what we talked
about all afternoon but I know numerous cups of tea were drunk and we had a lovely time chatting and catching up. Adam and I hung in there iil after dinner, but by 8pm we surrendered to our drooping eyelids and headed for bed. 12 glorious hours of sleep later and I awoke with a cold! can you believe it!! extremely unimpressed! so we dressers and headed into oxford where our first stop was boots pharmacy where I dosed myself up ready for our first proper day of holiday. and I rather think we did quite well- we climbed carfax tower
for a view of the city, visited Christchurch college which is where Harry potter movies
were
filmed, had a £1 marks and Spencer sandwich for lunch, had a beer at the eagle and child- the pub where j.r.rtolkien and c.s.Lewis used to meet weekly during their university years, saw the musuem, hit up the covered markets and even swung by the townhall. my grandpa was
the lord mayor of oxford back in the 1980's and I mentioned this to the lady working at the information desk and she scurried off and found a historian who was so kind to take Adam and I into the town hall and even unlocked my grandpa's old study for us to have a look around! his portrait is still hanging above the desk- it was really really special. after heading back to grandads house I whipped up a quick dinner and then we went to the pub my grandad works at where we met a few of his mates. over a gin and tonic or two we were taught the finer points of how to play snooker. it was quickly explained to me that wen are not allowed to play snooker in the pub ( a throwback to the days when women were forbidden from even entering). I can't say I minded though- the couches were very comfy and the gin was very delicious. Adam had a go though, and whilst he put up a good
fight, grandad walked away with boasting rights. and so once grandad had closed the bar up we headed home to bed, which is where I still am, typing this right now. I apologise for the lack or photos- I'll try and add some with the next post. hope all is going swimmingly for all of you,
much love from Lauren (and Adam- if he were awake)
about all afternoon but I know numerous cups of tea were drunk and we had a lovely time chatting and catching up. Adam and I hung in there iil after dinner, but by 8pm we surrendered to our drooping eyelids and headed for bed. 12 glorious hours of sleep later and I awoke with a cold! can you believe it!! extremely unimpressed! so we dressers and headed into oxford where our first stop was boots pharmacy where I dosed myself up ready for our first proper day of holiday. and I rather think we did quite well- we climbed carfax tower
for a view of the city, visited Christchurch college which is where Harry potter movies
were
filmed, had a £1 marks and Spencer sandwich for lunch, had a beer at the eagle and child- the pub where j.r.rtolkien and c.s.Lewis used to meet weekly during their university years, saw the musuem, hit up the covered markets and even swung by the townhall. my grandpa was
the lord mayor of oxford back in the 1980's and I mentioned this to the lady working at the information desk and she scurried off and found a historian who was so kind to take Adam and I into the town hall and even unlocked my grandpa's old study for us to have a look around! his portrait is still hanging above the desk- it was really really special. after heading back to grandads house I whipped up a quick dinner and then we went to the pub my grandad works at where we met a few of his mates. over a gin and tonic or two we were taught the finer points of how to play snooker. it was quickly explained to me that wen are not allowed to play snooker in the pub ( a throwback to the days when women were forbidden from even entering). I can't say I minded though- the couches were very comfy and the gin was very delicious. Adam had a go though, and whilst he put up a good
fight, grandad walked away with boasting rights. and so once grandad had closed the bar up we headed home to bed, which is where I still am, typing this right now. I apologise for the lack or photos- I'll try and add some with the next post. hope all is going swimmingly for all of you,
much love from Lauren (and Adam- if he were awake)
Friday, October 8, 2010
how many layers are too many??
Righto- firstly - I am aware that this is my second blog in only a matter of hours but this is due to:
A) me being slightly excited that I now actually have a blog and:
B) me having started packing my bag but realising it's actually quite a challenging task (how do I know what clothes I'll want to be wearing in January?!) and therefore blogging seems the more appealing choice of activity.
The packing process started really rather well. Enthusiasm levels were at an all time high, the empty pack looked happy at the prospect of being filled and my clothes were positively jumping at the chance to be rolled and neatly stashed away. I think I hit my first real hurdle when faced with the question of which hat to pack. Being as Europe is known to be a rather chilly place during winter I thought it only sensible to pack a hat, but this is actually a harder decision to make than it at first seems. My head, it seems, is larger than most, a fact that I manage to hide from the general public during day to day living, but once a hat is placed upon my head the size of my cranium is highlighted for all to see. Therefore my choice of hats is reduced to include those that are slimming to my face. Then there's the issue of warmth, the hat I take with my needs to be not only streamline, but also serve the purpose of keeping my brain from freezing AND ALSO from getting wet in the rain.... do you see know why it was such a tricky part of the packing process? After a good 20 minutes of trying hat after hat I managed to get a shortlist of 2, one purple fluffy number which is quite jolly, and another faux fur Russian style circa world war 1- is is not exactly streamline nor fashionable but won a great number of points in the warmth category...... a decision for another day me thinks.
The second big decision of my packing process was how many layers exactly will I need to wear at any one time? I have done a bit of forward planning and anticipate that on our trek we will never be more than 3 days away from a dwelling where we will have at least basic clothe washing facilities. Therefore it is necessary to have enough clean clothes for 3 days at a time. Bottoms are easy: Jeans work well in any setting, and if it's super cold I can wear thermals under them....it's the tops that cause the quandry. I have 2 thermal tops plus several layering tops, but how many of these need including? I know some clothes can be worn several days in a row, ie those that aren't getting dirty, but others will most certainly need a wash per wear......... so how many layers do I pack to ensure
A) I stay warm in the European winter and:
B) I don't fester in dirty clothes
???!
Such questions left me tired, sleepy and confused, so I did the only sensible option left available to me and built a bed in my sister's old bedroom. This kept me occupied for a good 30 minutes and by this time I was much to worn out to do any more packing - denial of a problem sometimes is the best answer!
Salut!
Lauren
P.S. I am thinking the best way to determine number of layers is just to anticipate that Europe will be this cold:
Therefore if I pack enough layers to keep me cold in such a setting- I should be right, right?
A) me being slightly excited that I now actually have a blog and:
B) me having started packing my bag but realising it's actually quite a challenging task (how do I know what clothes I'll want to be wearing in January?!) and therefore blogging seems the more appealing choice of activity.
The packing process started really rather well. Enthusiasm levels were at an all time high, the empty pack looked happy at the prospect of being filled and my clothes were positively jumping at the chance to be rolled and neatly stashed away. I think I hit my first real hurdle when faced with the question of which hat to pack. Being as Europe is known to be a rather chilly place during winter I thought it only sensible to pack a hat, but this is actually a harder decision to make than it at first seems. My head, it seems, is larger than most, a fact that I manage to hide from the general public during day to day living, but once a hat is placed upon my head the size of my cranium is highlighted for all to see. Therefore my choice of hats is reduced to include those that are slimming to my face. Then there's the issue of warmth, the hat I take with my needs to be not only streamline, but also serve the purpose of keeping my brain from freezing AND ALSO from getting wet in the rain.... do you see know why it was such a tricky part of the packing process? After a good 20 minutes of trying hat after hat I managed to get a shortlist of 2, one purple fluffy number which is quite jolly, and another faux fur Russian style circa world war 1- is is not exactly streamline nor fashionable but won a great number of points in the warmth category...... a decision for another day me thinks.
The second big decision of my packing process was how many layers exactly will I need to wear at any one time? I have done a bit of forward planning and anticipate that on our trek we will never be more than 3 days away from a dwelling where we will have at least basic clothe washing facilities. Therefore it is necessary to have enough clean clothes for 3 days at a time. Bottoms are easy: Jeans work well in any setting, and if it's super cold I can wear thermals under them....it's the tops that cause the quandry. I have 2 thermal tops plus several layering tops, but how many of these need including? I know some clothes can be worn several days in a row, ie those that aren't getting dirty, but others will most certainly need a wash per wear......... so how many layers do I pack to ensure
A) I stay warm in the European winter and:
B) I don't fester in dirty clothes
???!
Such questions left me tired, sleepy and confused, so I did the only sensible option left available to me and built a bed in my sister's old bedroom. This kept me occupied for a good 30 minutes and by this time I was much to worn out to do any more packing - denial of a problem sometimes is the best answer!
Salut!
Lauren
P.S. I am thinking the best way to determine number of layers is just to anticipate that Europe will be this cold:
Thursday, October 7, 2010
8 Days and Counting!
Hi folks,
Well it's 8 days and counting until Adam and I head off to Europe for our 4 month adventure and I thought it might be fitting to construct a blog so you can follow our trip (not in a stalkerish way though.....)
I must admit this is my first attempt to construct and write a blog, so if there are any major flaws please hang in there! I'm still learning! The idea at this stage is to update this site with our news and tales of our travels as often as internet access and time will allow- and hopefully augment my rambles with the odd photo or two (if this proves to be too technically advanced for me you'll have to just make do with my words to paint a mental image of the things we are up to!)
So to paint the first mental image I will quickly describe the state of preparation that Adam and I are in:
Plane tickets to London- check
Valid passports- check
Warm clothes- semi check (Adam please PLEASE buy a hat! You're ears will freeze without one!)
Packing - absolutely definately not check- will close now and try and address this!
Until next time!
Au revoir!
Lauren
Well it's 8 days and counting until Adam and I head off to Europe for our 4 month adventure and I thought it might be fitting to construct a blog so you can follow our trip (not in a stalkerish way though.....)
I must admit this is my first attempt to construct and write a blog, so if there are any major flaws please hang in there! I'm still learning! The idea at this stage is to update this site with our news and tales of our travels as often as internet access and time will allow- and hopefully augment my rambles with the odd photo or two (if this proves to be too technically advanced for me you'll have to just make do with my words to paint a mental image of the things we are up to!)
So to paint the first mental image I will quickly describe the state of preparation that Adam and I are in:
Plane tickets to London- check
Valid passports- check
Warm clothes- semi check (Adam please PLEASE buy a hat! You're ears will freeze without one!)
Packing - absolutely definately not check- will close now and try and address this!
Until next time!
Au revoir!
Lauren
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